Personally, I LOVE the look & sound of this thing.
Chevy Page
Car & Driver
The 2020 Chevy Corvette C8 Will Start at Less Than $60,000!
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Personally, I LOVE the look & sound of this thing.
Chevy Page
Car & Driver
The 2020 Chevy Corvette C8 Will Start at Less Than $60,000!
I just need that lottery win or sell a bunch of guns!
Well...
I was really prepared to hate it. But frankly, it looks way better than I thought it would. And much better than the outgoing C7, which looks like a cartoon.
That said, I'm not sure I could ever get used to a Corvette with the engine behind the driver. I get why they did it and at 60k, it will be the fastest mid-engined car in the price range. Stomping all over the Porsche Cayman (even the S), the Lotus Evora, and the Alfa 4C (as though that is even really a competitor...). And it may well stomp all over everything Ford and Mopar are putting out, as well as some of the 100k Euro and Japanese offerings.
Still not sure I could do a behind-the-driver Corvette though. And I worry if we're dealing with typical GM engineering. Or if they cost-shared and stole the Acura NSX platform? Finally, the lack of a three-pedal option makes it a deal breaker for me. I know many don't/won't feel the same way, I get it's faster with a dual clutch box, but I like my clutch pedal.
That said Chevy did smart, ripping a page from Lotus' playbook. "Let's cram a really reliable engine, into a mid-engined platform. Eventually we'll add a blower on top. And we'll sell it for 60-85k." And by virtue of being a Chevrolet you can actually get serviced in every frickin' town in every frickin' state they'll sell a bunch.
They've been flirting with a mid-engine Corvette for decades yet I still find myself surprised that they actually pulled the trigger. I remember when the Corvette Indy concept car was introduced in the 80s...(back when a. Popular Mechanics subscription was my internet...)
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The Corvette had always been a lot of bang for the buck - this has real potential, but the Corvette has had the same basic lines since 1983. I wonder whether the branding will work here regardless of the merits of the car.
It's better than what I expected, but I expected the C8 to be truly hideous. I hate the fact that they couldn't make the C7 better, and make a separate supercar with a different name. I've had three vettes, and I'm a bit attached to the front engine layout
Hmmm...I see where they got the inspiration.
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While the current model is a beast, I still like the looks of my C5Z (and wish I still had it). It really stood out as a different than the C5, while the C6/C7 look similar to the C6Z/C7Z. That said, the C5s pickup truck steering wheel and interior were terrible. BUT I didn't buy it for the interior or stereo.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0d87794bd3.jpg
The 2020 looks nice and I wish I could make it happen. Maybe down the road I can pickup a used one.
...that said, why did they make the interior super silly with the buttons???
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...bkgm3qpy18.jpg
I love it, but as I’m a dinosaur, I wish it would be offered with a manual.
Chevy's website has the answer:Because technology and cool.Quote:
This fighter jet-inspired layout puts climate and...
I like it, but I'm sure I'll be sticking with my Camaro SS for a long time. While it's 6.2L makes a mere 426 hp and in a heavier car to boot, it lets me shift my own gears and is plenty fast enough to keep me entertained.
I fell in love with the C5 when it came out and I still want one. I still remember the Motor Trend article I read on it when I was 15.
I was *thiiiiiis* close to buying one a while back, as in I was at at the lot with papers in front of me, but my wife complained it was a manual and she couldn't drive it.
Maybe for the C9 they’ll ditch the fiberglass ?
I’ll pass on the recommendation to read the book “All Corvettes Are Red”. It charts the tortuous odyssey which was the C5 Corvette development program. At one point the engineers had to literally embezzle development money from GM to finish critical testing, as the suits had cancelled the Corvette and all official funding.
Shortly after we got married, we decided we wanted a 4x4 (after nearly high-siding my wife's Grand Am on an unpaved forest "road"). After walking away from multiple good deals because they were manual, I talked my wife into learning how to drive a stick. We would take my little 5spd Toyota coupe to the nearby high school parking lot (this was Summer) and practice. I made her practice over and over again starting and stopping. Once she got that down, we worked on getting the car moving, shifting to 2nd, then 3rd, then back to 2nd. Once she was comfortable with that, I started having her drive us home from our sessions. Eventually, within a month or so, she was comfortable enough to drive our new (to us) 4x4 to work on her own. That was 17 years ago. We've purchased two other manuals since then. She prefers automatic, but can and does drive a manual in any situation.
So, what are you waiting for? ;)
Chris
DO NOT GO QUIETLY INTO THE HMMMMM OF BATTERIES!
Mid engine at $60k and sub 3s 0-60? That is the sound of Porsche Cayman prices falling into the basement. I doubt it will affect 992 sales though.
Styling? Have to see it in the flesh. Butt might be too big.
Need to see some leaked YT videos of it going around The Ring. And an official time.
And GM build quality? How is that these days?
How will it be as an everyday driver? Sightlines?
Hope they sell a bunch.
Design analysis:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/auto...cid=spartandhp
When we bought our C6 (used), I always thought the C7 was a sharper looking car. We just didn’t want to drop that kind of coin at the time. Fast forward 5 years to just a couple months back, and we picked up a 2019. Seems we get a lot more comments on it, than we did on the ‘09.
Weren’t they already doing that with the Z06 at least? Granted you’re looking at 80K, instead of 60.
I knew for a while they were ditching the stick, but was pleasantly surprised they are offering a DCT instead. That was the one thing I wish I had in our ‘19. Wife’s one concession was no stick this time. Our ‘09 was a manual. I countered with, if we can’t have a stick, than it has to be a Z06. :p
I think the C5 convertibles are the nicest looking 'Vettes in existence. I love the body colored "waterfall" between the seats. I test drove one that was the same money and about the same miles as my Camaro, but the ride height made it difficult to see as useful in my city. I couldn't see over the hood of the sedan next to me to see oncoming traffic for a left turn, plus our roads are nearly to the point a moon buggy is a better choice.
We aren't really saying that anything made after the C3 is prettier than the generations before it, right? I'm cool saying the C5 is the best looking of the generations since the C3, because it is...but they really can't hold a candle to the older stuff.
It's a toss up between a '57 and the '61/62. But these days, I think the '61/62 cars are my favorite Corvettes. A blend of new and old with the old front end, mated almost seamlessly to the new Stingray rear end.
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Former President Obama gets it - '63 Split Window is insanely gorgeous
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And though not my favorite generation, my wife loves her some early C3s, like this '71. In fact, as soon as we buy a house the next purchase after that will be a C3 Corvette for her.
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I owned a C3. Nice looking cars, fun to drive. Not a patch on the C5 convertible, though.
Each to their own, of course. The first gen is too antique-y for me. No interest in them at all.
I can *appreciate* the first gen without actually ever wanting to own one, but the '63 split window is one of my top 5 dream cars.
I like the look of the C3 but IIRC they were pretty neutered due to govt emissions regulations that the manufacturers hadn't figured out how to "cheat" or work around yet. Maybe that's just the later years? Either way the design is tainted in my mind.
The C4 was the gen when I was in middle school, high school, and starting college, and so it's the car I remember the "rich kids" parents' buying for them. Kinda makes it a love/hate for me.
The C7 is my favorite (excluding the aforementioned '63). Or was, right up until last week. The C8 is a definite contender now for my favorite, but I'll want to see one in the wild first.
The C3s were definitely neutered, particularly if you had a CA compliant one. Looks were sweet, though, and the interior was fun for the time.
C4 was too much of a flying wedge to me. The interior looked dated almost immediately. I test drove one and instantly hated it.
Like every other American car until a few years ago?
I've had Z06 in my screenname everywhere forever, I've always had a soft spot for Corvettes, but the C8 is almost a disconnect. I'm thankful that an American car company actually seems to give a shit about performance beyond 1/4 mile times and noise, but it'll take me a bit to come around. The C3 and C7 are my faves, with the C7 looking really fucking good. I'd almost rather see them dump the Camaro, keep the C7 and rev it to a C8, and have the mid-engine be a new car all together.
I'm unsure that I'll have a car that I can't drive from spring to fall, but if this slams the C7 pricing I could see a ZR1 in the future. I don't see that happening though, I think those prices will stay put, dealers will mark up C8's, and it'll be two years for the market to normalize.
No. Some interiors are timeless, some are dated, and some are a mix.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/07/6d...b317645cac.jpg
https://i.wheelsage.org/image/format...show_car_2.jpg
vs recycled switchgear from economy cars and pickup trucks.
Oh, yeah, the '90s Generic Motors were pretty much everything was recycled from every other model. Big slabs of plastic, cheap-o buttons, rattling door panels, etc.
I think Lincoln still had some reasonable interiors in the 70's - 90's. At least you knew it was a Lincoln. Remember the vacuum speedometer that filled with fluid to indicate the speed? I still think those are awesome. I am a big fan of even the not-so-classic Lincolns, but my wife insists they are "old man cars" and was pretty excited when I sold my last one.
Yeah, what's wrong with aluminum?
It's worked on aircraft for a long time and it works for Ferrari.
https://i.ibb.co/y5m2Kjx/download.jpg
What's wrong with...fiberglass? It's not like the 'glass used on a 'Vette today is the same stuff your dad used to patch holes in his tri-hull boat. It's a woven honeycomb material that is as light as aluminum. Only thing that will go lighter is a carbon fiber weave (which is...get this...a carbon fiberglass...).
Aluminum sucks.
Seriously. It sucks.
You think your steel bodied car gets door dings now. Wait until someone rams a lumber cart into it at full speed at Home Depot. And then you get the damn bill. The only thing more expensive than aluminum is repairing aluminum. Ford has driven the cost down on its trucks, close to that of steel, by basically making it such that almost every panel can be replaced, as opposed to repaired. This makes some types of damage (e.g., hail) cheaper to repair. But not all types. And insurance database records are showing about 10% more body damage claims on F-150s for 2015+ vehicles, compared to those before. Not compelling data overall.
Ferrari choosing to use aluminum means nothing in the world of mass produced cars. Let's be clear, there are more Corvettes produced every year, than the entire line of Ferraris like 2-3x as many Corvettes as Ferraris. As a result, there are definitely more repairs conducted, more miles driven, more racetrack events, etc. A Corvette in aluminum would not only suck to repair, but it would likely be considerably more expensive, since GM would have to re-engineer it, like Ford did the F150 to keep repair costs down. Either do that or just start selling 10k units a year like Ferrari does and charge Ferrari prices...
Oh and it wouldn't weigh any less...In fact it would probably weigh more. This reminds me a bit of "metal framed" gun discussions. The only real reason to pick aluminum over polymer is because there isn't a polymer frame to choose. Otherwise your choices are polymer or steel. Steel for weight, polymer for not weight. Structurally they're about the same. Unlike aluminum, which even in handguns, sucks, compared to plastic or steel.
The friend who went to the shooting match with me today was trying to go from C6 to C7 and he hasn't had the C6 very long.
Oh, yeah, we went in my van. Range bags, coolers, my folding chair, his bucket stool. Down a dirt road. Corvette need not apply.
Only if you lack imagination...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoXpB4hWsdI
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I admit, the C3 on the truck frame is pretty bad.
But the C2 that is rally prepped? That is awesome. I love driving on asphalt as much as the next guy. But dirt and gravel is just next level fun. If I had the space to build and house a dedicated rally vehicle, I’d have one.
My dreams are sometimes of Le Mans or Sebring...but more often than not they are of the Baja 1000, Targa Newfoundland, Carrera Panamerica, the Peking-To-Paris, the Dakar. Get in a car and drive it to the ends of the Earth and back...
This is the Vette for me right now. Not even sure if it's real or a render, but that's hard to beat.
https://www.stingrayforums.com/forum...ays-green1.jpg
Corvettes should have round tail lights, 4 each. Just sayin...
https://www.space.com/apollo-astrove...ts-legacy.html
Quote:
Scott Kelly, the former NASA astronaut who spent nearly a year in space on his last mission, made a surprise appearance at the unveiling of the C8 Corvette Thursday (July 18) in front of 1,300 people in Tustin, Calif.
(more at link)Quote:
Corvette was a part of the space program from the very beginning.
Alan Shepard received a white 1962 Corvette as congratulations for being the first American in space in 1961. Afterwards, Florida Chevrolet-Cadillac dealer Jim Rathmann negotiated a $1-a-year lease agreement for Shepard's six fellow Mercury astronauts.